I’ve always considered myself to be an animal person. More specifically, a cat person. So I was surprised when this certain pet shelter lady set me straight. It had been a couple of weeks since the last time anyone had spotted my long-haired calico. I knew the probability of her being snatched by a wild animal was pretty good. But she could also have been stolen. Either way, I was minus a cat. So off I went to the local pet shelter to do my good deed for the day. When my husband and I pulled up, the building sparkled with good maintenance and self-importance. Anxious to get a kitty, we got in line and waited for a good fifteen minutes while the person in front of us gushed about “adopting” their newest “family member.” As we waited, a man walked in with an enormous, wretched looking stray dog he had rescued. The pet shelter lady gave the pooch a syrupy look and then proceeded to scowl at the man. She turned back to the dog with a sympathetic expression as if to say, “I understand. I hate humans, too.” Our turn. After reviewing too much paperwork, we were drilled on the following subjects: living situation, work schedule, length of marriage, plans for the future, when will we have kids, and on and and on and freaking on. At this point I would have given anything to go home and pretend we hadn’t come here. I was already twelve years old and getting younger by the second. With a sigh she put down our stack of papers and began taking notes in a separate file. We had come to the part where she noticed we USED to have a cat. “Was your cat an indoor kitty?” We let her outside. “I thought so. Your cat was obviously eaten by some animal by your carelessness. You should have put a tracking microchip in her skin.” Another sigh. She copied our names onto a list. “I’m afraid you two are just not responsible enough to adopt one of our cats. They are family. I suggest you come up with a two year plan for your futures before you try to adopt again.” And then she gave us a two year plan. “Go back to school, get a large enough house, and wait till you have a child so we can match their temperaments to suit each other.” Then she added, “Or you can just go to a farm and get a kitten that way.” So we did. Come to find out, they didn’t even have kittens at the pet shelter that day anyway. P.S. I totally cried all the way home. Beth the Other Admin